Amazon follows Fallout with live-action Tomb Raider show

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Screenshot from Rise of the Tomb Raider featuring Lara Croft covered in blood and bundled in a fur coat in a frozen wilderness
Image: Crystal Dynamics
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In addition to announcing a second season of Mr. And Mrs. Smith and a fifth season of The Boys, Amazon is adding another new series to its television lineup: a live-action Tomb Raider series. The series will be produced in collaboration between Crystal Dynamics and Amazon MGM Studios, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge serving as the show’s writer and executive producer, confirming rumors reported earlier last year.

The Tomb Raider series is no stranger to live-action adaptations. In the 2000s, Angelina Jolie starred as the badass grave robber in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and its sequel, The Cradle of Life. At the time, both movies were financial if not critical successes but are viewed more favorably today, especially when compared to contemporaries like Doom, Silent Hill, and Max Payne. In 2018, a reboot of the Tomb Raider movie franchise was produced to follow up the reboot of the game series, this time with Ex Machina star Alicia Vikander in the lead.

With the Fallout show hitting over 65 million viewers, Amazon has proven it can make a pretty good video game adaptation. Plus, the streamer is no stranger to successful adaptations of other mediums with The Boys, Gen V, and Invincible, so a Tomb Raider series seems like it could be a good fit. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, notable for her work on Fleabag and Killing Eve, also seems to be a fan of the series, sharing in Amazon’s press release, “Lara Croft means a lot to me, as she does to many, and I can’t wait to go on this adventure. Bats ‘n all.” I’m not sure if bats were a pain in the ass in the reboots as they were in the original trilogy, but at least, as an original trilogy fan myself, I feel like the series is in capable hands. She also has hands-on tomb-raiding experience, so to speak, starring alongside Harrison Ford in the latest Indiana Jones movie.

The streamer is producing this new show in tandem with Amazon Games publishing the next entry in the Tomb Raider game series. This also means that if the Tomb Raider series turns out to be good, fans likely won’t have to wait too long for a new game like all the poor players jonesing for a new Fallout entry.